What libraries are currently used for OpenGL-based 2D and 2.5D graphics? Is it worthwhile to use a library on top of LWJGL or is LWJGL enough? I would prefer to minimize the amount of time used for graphics related programming, but probably would prefer something minimal beyond simple graphics.

Based on low information "first" impressions after having looked at the APIs of Slick2D and LibGDX, Slick2D looks closer to my request for something minimal. I see a lot of begins and ends in example source code for both. I read somewhere that slick used immediate mode (from a possibly outdated source.) LibGDX example code seemed to include direct calls to OpenGL wrappers. (Would that be anymore helpful than plain LWJGL?)

First of all, you barely described what you were going to do, so who knows what's best for your use case. Second, just browse the forum for a bit, and you'll find more advice on which API to use, than you'll even need.

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@Riven: Ya. I get that, but keep in mind I am NOT asking for a one sentence answer on which library is "better". I am not asking for a tutorials; I am not asking for what library a noob should learn first; and, I am not asking for what library does graphics, animation, physics, collision detection, and path finding. Plus, information about both Java and game programming topics become dated very quickly.

I'll take my existing questions and split them into simpler ones:

What graphics libraries exist that are primarily used for 2D graphics? Answer: Slick2D, LibGDX, Pulpcore

What makes each one special? Specifically, if a library provides a framework beyond OpenGL wrappers then what practical purposes does the abstraction serve?

Assuming it took the same amount of time to learn LWJGL as it did a library built on top of it, how much programming time would it take to create the same graphics with/without the high level library?

What other costs and benefits should I keep in mind from the start?

Bonus: Including Java2D, LWJGL, Slick2D, and LibGDX (and again assuming I've past the learning curve of each one), what would save the most time for creating simple graphics for (top-down and side-view) prototype games?

What graphics libraries exist that are primarily used for 2D graphics? Answer: Slick2D, LibGDX, Pulpcore

What makes each one special? Specifically, if a library provides a framework beyond OpenGL wrappers then what practical purposes does the abstraction serve?

Slick2D looks a bit like Java2D. Don't use it, as it is barely supported, and riddled with bugs, and unsupported.LibGDX provides a whole pile of stuff, some of which you won't need, and is designed around its need to deploy easily on multiple platforms based on OpenGL and OpenGLES without code mods.Pulpcore is gone. Don't use it.

Assuming it took the same amount of time to learn LWJGL as it did a library built on top of it, how much programming time would it take to create the same graphics with/without the high level library?

There's almost nothing to learn in LWJGL; it's just OpenGL. It can take quite a while to make a kickass sprite engine in OpenGL. But you could probably do something adequate in a few days.

What other costs and benefits should I keep in mind from the start?

Learning APIs always comes at a cost of not knowing exactly what's going on and then spending ages trying to find out how to do something which seems obvious, or spending ages trying to discover what you are trying to has a bug in it and it's not your fault.

Bonus: Including Java2D, LWJGL, Slick2D, and LibGDX (and again assuming I've past the learning curve of each one), what would save the most time for creating simple graphics for (top-down and side-view) prototype games?

If you say know OpenGL then use OpenGL, code exactly what you need and no more, and be done with it.

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